Sorry to everyone who's really wanted me to update. I've had most of this chapter written for a while so I finished it for you guys. I still care about this story and I'll update it again, I just can't promise that will happen soon. I hope this doesn't end up being a major letdown for people.
I want to extend my appreciation to everyone who has expressed an interest in my writing. Also my best wishes to everyone who I've personally corresponded with here on FFN, I hope you all keep writing or reading, whichever your prerogative is.
I'll try to not have this be a final AN even though it sounds like one. Thanks for reading.
/
As soon as Naruto shut the door after leaving, Sakura had a bad feeling. She knew Naruto would probably try to talk to Lee anyway, and though Lee was their friend, she worried about what might happen. She never wanted anything to happen to him, especially when he was just trying to make her feel better.
She went to follow him out the door, but he was already gone. She looked around the vicinity but didn't find him. Thinking for a while, she remembered where Team Gai's training field was located. The pinkette figured that Lee must have decided to go meet Tenten there, so she headed in that direction. She really hoped she was just worrying over nothing.
When she was a block away, she saw something strange as she rounded the corner. Tenten was pushing Gai in his wheelchair at top speed. They might have coliided with her, but Sakura quickly jumped out of the way.
"HALT!" Gai shouted.
The pair stopped, both of them eyeing the pinkette.
"Sakura... What are you doing here?" Tenten asked.
"Oh, I was just-" Sakura began to reply.
"That is not important now. My student Lee needs my guidance in this youthful time. Sakura-kun, it will be more difficult for him if you are there. Please wait here and allow me to handle it," Gai stated authoritatively.
Sakura looked down and to one side.
"But I don't even know what's going on... Did something happen with him and Naruto?"
"I shall make sure that they do not come to harm. You may follow after a few minutes."
With that, he nudged Tenten and they both sped off towards the training field without waiting for Sakura to reply. She decided that she would give Gai two minutes. At times like these, she wished she was a sensor.
When she felt like enough time had elapsed, she quickly walked towards the training field. As she arrived, she saw Naruto standing alone in the center of it while Lee and Gai seemed to be training several yards away. Everything looked normal. She didn't understand why Gai and Tenten had acted like there was a crisis.
Naruto turned to look at her as she approached. She smiled at him, then frowned when she noticed the bruise on his face. She quickly closed the remaining distance with him.
"Sakura-chan..." the blonde uttered.
"Naruto, you're hurt... What happened here?" she said with concern. She raised a softly glowing hand to his cheek. The bruise started to fade quickly.
Naruto frowned.
"Nothing, really... I was about to head back."
"I was going to wait for you, but I had a really bad feeling right away. It took me a while to get here, though, because Gai-sensei told me to wait for some reason..." She briefly glanced over in Lee's direction. "Lee-san did this to you...? But why...?"
The blonde sighed.
"We had a disagreement about something, so we ended up sparring... Don't worry about it, okay? Let's go see your parents."
Sakura nodded reluctantly.
They both turned and started to walk off, but Naruto was lagging behind. She stopped and turned to look at him.
"Naruto, what's wrong?"
He looked back at her wearily.
"I feel kinda tired. I guess I'm out of shape... I need to train more."
Sakura's eyes widened in worry.
"Let's just go back home, then. You should rest."
Naruto frowned.
"But we were supposed to go get the rest of your stuff..."
Sakura shook her head.
"That's okay, we can do it tomorrow. You can't lug my stuff around for me if you're tired. Let's just go back. I mean it, Naruto. Come on," she said hurriedly.
She extended an arm to offer him support, which he quickly accepted. Then the pair slowly walked off, neither noticing the sullen Lee gazing after them as they departed.
/
They had walked home in silence. Many people stared at the pinkette as she walked while holding the taller and much heavier blonde to her side protectively, but she was too worried about him to notice. He had said he was tired, and since she couldn't find anything physically wrong with him, she hoped that he'd recover after a nap.
When they arrived back at the apartment, Sakura opened the still-unlocked door. Naruto smiled weakly at her. She let him cross the threshold on his own power, but quickly hurried him into the bedroom.
"You need to rest. Take your clothes off and get in the bed," the pinkette ordered.
Naruto wasn't sure that he needed to, but he really didn't feel like arguing.
"Okay, Sakura-chan," he replied. He did as she ordered, taking his jacket, shirt and pants off before climbing into the bed and pulling the sheet over himself. "I wish I could've moved the rest of your stuff for you, though."
Sakura gave him a pointed, humorless glance.
"I already told you that it's okay. We can go tomorrow. The important thing is that you weren't seriously hurt. That's the only thing that matters to me."
Naruto smiled faintly at her. He knew how much she cared about him, but it was nice to hear it anyway.
"Yeah... Thanks, Sakura-chan."
Sakura was standing rigidly at the side of the bed as if she was attending to a patient at the hospital.
"So are you feeling alright? Are you hungry? I could make something, or I could even go out and buy something for you. Would you like that?"
The blonde shook his head.
"Nah, I'm fine."
She nodded.
"Okay... I guess I should go tell my mom and dad we won't be coming by today... And since we aren't, I might as well check to see how things are going at the hospital," She finally dropped her serious manner, relieved and happy that he wasn't fighting her on this. She gave him a goofy smile. "I'll probably be an hour or two. You'll be okay here without your caring girlfriend, right?"
Naruto almost blurted out 'No,' but managed to stop himself. He felt like that would be ridiculous. He wasn't even really hurt at all. She had healed his face completely. But more than just feeling weary from the fight, he felt unsure and troubled. It seemed like his friends kept turning on him. The pinkette was the only one he knew would stand by him. She was like his rock, but without any jagged edges.
But he couldn't bring himself to ask her to remain, to have her tend to him just because he was feeling insecure. He smiled weakly and nodded.
"Yeah..."
Sakura adopted a serious expression again.
"Good... Please don't get up while I'm gone. I want you to rest until I get back, at least."
"Okay, I won't."
There was an awkward moment as they both gazed at each other for a little too long. Sakura realized that if she didn't leave now, she was never going to.
"Alright... I'll be back soon."
They exchanged a last glance before the pinkette turned and left. Naruto rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. He wanted to follow her instructions, since it was important to her.
As the minutes passed, they felt to the blonde like hours.
/
Back at the Inuzuka residence, Kiba was still sulking in his chair. Tsume was reading a newspaper as she sat in a sofa across from him. He had tried to get her to see reason, but it was like talking to a wall. She wasn't even responding to him.
There was a polite knock at the door. When Kiba stood up to go open it, his mother finally acknowledged him. She gave him a pointed look that meant that he should sit back down or else. Kiba had no fight left in him and slumped back into the chair.
His mother went to open the door.
"Thanks for coming. Come on in," she said gruffly.
"I came as soon as I could, Inuzuka-san... Can you watch Mirai-chan for me?" came the voice of Kurenai from outside.
"Sure, I remember how to take care of a little kid. Sometimes, it feels like I never stopped."
The Inuzuka woman grimaced as she said this. Kurenai smiled nervously.
"Okay, thank you."
The dark-haired woman handed the black-haired toddler over to Tsume to hold as she entered the building. She stood next to the older Inuzuka as both women turned to face Kiba. Tsume gave her son a death glare.
"I'll leave him to you."
Kurenai nodded without shifting her gaze from Kiba. Kiba's mother walked into the kitchen with the baby. Kiba looked up at his sensei miserably.
"Kurenai-sensei, this is really unnecessary. You didn't have to be here."
Kurenai frowned lightly before sitting down across from Kiba in the same spot that Tsume had been in. She felt the residual warmth that Tsume had left behind.
"Kiba, I wanted to be here. I understand it's been a long time since you were a Genin, and I don't serve as a ninja of Konoha anymore, but I like to think that you, Shino, and Hinata will always be my students. Do you not feel the same way?"
Kiba's eyes widened.
"No, I do... It's just that this is so embarrassing."
She tilted her head at him.
"Why is it embarrassing?"
Kiba looked down at the carpet with slightly reddened cheeks.
"Because it's as if I'm a child who did something wrong..."
Kurenai raised an eyebrow.
"From what your mother said, you did do something wrong," Kiba didn't react to this. His former sensei frowned deeply. "Kiba, look at me."
He looked up at her awkwardly.
"If you show me the respect that you always did, then I won't treat you like a child. Just explain to me what happened, and we'll go from there."
"Well, I attacked Naruto because I was angry..."
Kurenai nodded.
"Okay, what else?"
Kiba shrugged.
"That's it, really."
The dark-haired woman frowned.
"That's it? That's all you did wrong?"
"Uh... Yeah?"
Her frown deepened.
"Kiba, what did I just tell you?"
"That I should treat you respectfully..."
She gave the stupefied Kiba a deadpan look.
"Yes. I'm not stupid, Kiba. I know everything. I talk to Hinata all the time."
He nodded dumbly.
"Oh... Okay..."
"So we both know that that wasn't the only thing you did wrong. Hinata told me about how she found out about Naruto and Sakura's relationship. She didn't understand why you would have told her something like that. Because she already knew how Naruto felt about Sakura. She couldn't see any reason why you would tell her that other than you simply wanted to cause her pain. She asked me why you would want to hurt her like that. What should I have told her, Kiba?"
Kiba gulped. He began to sweat, not knowing what he should say, as he didn't want to reveal the truth to Kurenai.
"Oh... Uh..."
Kurenai sighed.
"Kiba, calm down. It was obvious why you did that. I've always known about your feelings for her. And no, I didn't tell her," Kiba's face took on an expression of relief. Kurenai narrowed her eyes at him. "But it was still wrong, Kiba. And it was useless... Even if you got her to hate Naruto, that wouldn't mean she would suddenly love you. It doesn't work that way."
The Inuzuka didn't respond, only gazing down miserably as Kurenai continued.
"So you have to stop acting like this. You're only alienating yourself from your comrades. Do you understand?"
"Yes..." Kiba replied quietly.
Kiba didn't even notice as Kurenai stood up.
"Good. I'm going to go, then. I'll tell your mother that you aren't going to do that kind of thing anymore. So please don't. If you do, not only it will reflect very badly on me, but I won't be able to help you anymore."
He finally looked up at her.
"Okay... Uh... Do you think it would be all right if I told Hinata that I..."
Kiba trailed off as he saw her face fall at his words.
"I don't know if it would change anything. Maybe in the future, things might change," She smiled wistfully. "It's not like I always loved Asuma... Sometimes these things take time, Kiba. A long time. If you're not serious about Hinata, please just stop making things harder for her. But if you are, it might be worth it in the end."
He managed a weak smile at this.
"Okay. I'll do my best..."
The older woman nodded.
"That's great, Kiba. Just give it time. Although a lot of great shinobi came out of your class at the academy, I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to replace the three of you. I'm still so proud of you all."
She smiled gently at him before turning to go talk with Tsume. Kiba sighed before leaning down to pet Akamaru's fur. He hoped that there was some truth in her words.
/
Sakura returned to the apartment after a little more than an hour and a half. She had been delayed, having taken some time to advise a pair of new medical ninja at the hospital. Then she had taken the time to fill a large bag with some more of her things, including her books and scrolls. After entering through the front door, she removed her shoes and put the bag on the kitchen table before going into the bedroom to check on Naruto.
She saw that he seemed to have fallen asleep. She smiled at this and went to retrieve one of her medical books from her bag. She didn't want Naruto to be alone when he woke up. Returning to the bedroom, she carefully laid down next to him on top of the sheet, still fully dressed. Resting her head on a pillow, she settled in and started reading the book.
After a long while, Naruto woke up. As he opened his eyes and felt a presence next to him, he turned his head and saw Sakura calmly reading her book. He smiled contentedly.
"Sakura-chan," the blonde said.
She turned to look at him.
"Hi there," she replied, a cheeky grin on her face.
"You could've woken me up if you wanted to..."
The pinkette shook her head.
"Nah... I think you were just exhausted. You needed that nap. Besides, you looked so peaceful, Naruto."
Naruto chuckled.
"Haha... Man, today really didn't go well, did it?"
Sakura shrugged.
"It's fine. My mom said we can come back tomorrow. It's not a big deal. I'm just glad you weren't hurt."
The blonde sighed.
"I need to train more... I've been too busy with other things to do that."
Sakura gave him a tentative nod.
"Maybe we could train together? Or would I slow you down too much?"
Naruto frowned. He hated it when she assumed that she wouldn't be of any use to him, because not even once had that been the case.
"What? You could never slow me down. You're actually an amazing fighter. If everything else was equal, you would destroy me on technique."
The pinkette raised an eyebrow.
"You mean in taijutsu? Maybe... But even without Kurama helping you, couldn't you just use Sage Mode? I wouldn't be able to touch you."
Naruto shrugged.
"Well..." He grinned playfully. "You hit so hard that all you'd have to do is hit me once, and I wouldn't get up again. It isn't that hard to hit someone once."
Sakura inhaled sharply at this, her eyebrows shooting up.
"But I would never hit you that hard... Who the hell cares about winning a stupid spar...?!" She reached out and gently brushed a lock of hair off of his forehead. "I couldn't bear it if I really hurt you, Naruto..."
His grin faded and his eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't meant to disturb her.
"But, Sakura-chan... You know I feel the same way, so that's not really an advantage for me, right?"
"Well..." She didn't meet his eyes, still idly grooming him. "I have to be realistic, Naruto. I know what you can do. Even if you actually let me attack the real you, you're still much faster than me. So you would be able to hit me at least a few times before I even came close to hitting you. Assuming neither of us were dealing any real damage to each other, you'd just beat me on points."
The blonde grinned again.
"Yeah, but I don't think I could make myself hit you at all. I'd have to tell my clones to do it, but even they would probably dispel themselves rather than hurt you."
Sakura chuckled and retracted her hand from him.
"Haha... Maybe we shouldn't fight each other."
Naruto laughed as well, stopping when he thought of something.
"Did you ever manage to get something to eat...?"
She nodded.
"Yeah, I made some ramen a while ago. Do you want some?"
His eyes shifted down and away from her for a second.
"Maybe later..."
Sakura raised an eyebrow. It was strange for him to refuse an offer of food.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
The blonde shrugged.
"I'm fine, Sakura-chan... I just don't really feel like eating."
She was gazing at him with concern.
"Well, do you feel bad about what happened? I thought Lee-san was a good friend... I was shocked when you told me he wanted to fight you."
Naruto sighed deeply.
"That's not what I said... He really didn't. At least not at first. I kinda started it."
Sakura's eyes widened, her voice raising an octave.
"What? I can't believe that... Why?"
"He said something about you that I didn't like."
"Oh," The pinkette's features became upset. "Naruto, don't do that! I don't care what anyone thinks of me. Let people say what they want. It's not worth it. Don't get into trouble over something stupid like this again."
Naruto looked at her blankly, blinking a few times.
"But... You don't understand. It was-"
She shook her head, a pained expression on her face.
"That stuff doesn't matter to me, Naruto. Please, you don't understand how much I would hate myself if you got seriously hurt because of me again... What did he say, anyway?"
"Well... He said that you, uh..." Naruto grimaced. "... aren't special, now."
Sakura did a double take.
"What? Seriously? That's what got you so angry? That sounds so stupid. I was imagining something really horrible."
Naruto looked down in thought for a moment before meeting her eyes again.
"Well, you're right. It doesn't sound so bad like that."
The pinkette looked pensive.
"So Lee-san used to think I was special, kind of like how you think of me, but now that I'm with you, I'm not? That's what he meant?"
"Um... Yeah, I guess."
He didn't want to explain it more than he had to. Sakura frowned.
"Well, that's pretty mean, but it's also dumb. You know he's wrong, so how could that have pissed you off so much?"
Naruto sighed.
"I dunno. I guess you just had to be there."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe I should have been. I don't think Lee-san would have had the guts to say anything to my face. I'm really disappointed. If he had feelings for me, he should have known that I wouldn't be happy about this. It'll be a while before I can forgive him."
"You should forgive him if he asks you to... I don't want you to lose any friends because of me."
"Forget about it, Naruto. I don't need a friend who resents the way I feel. I'm so happy and I feel so good about myself when I'm with you. I mean, that's why we moved so fast, right? I'm sorry if that hurt him, but I don't think it's my fault and it definitely isn't yours... Ugh, never mind," She sighed languidly. "This should have been a time to celebrate. There's no war... No one wants to take Kurama out of you, killing you so that I'll never be happy again... All I want is for the two of us to be happy together after all the pain we've been through. If someone doesn't want that to happen... Then I don't want anything to do with them. I'm sorry if that sounds cold, but-"
Naruto couldn't help but interrupt, his expression turning dismayed.
"But, Sakura-chan, you have to understand that it was my fault too... It might even have been all my fault... I could have been-"
The pinkette shook her head.
"I don't have time to worry about whose fault it was. Even if you were entirely to blame, and I don't believe that for a second, I know you must have had a good reason. You aren't the kind of person to hurt someone for no reason. You hate hurting people. So he can apologize to you, or you can both apologize to each other, I don't really care which. But I can't be his friend until that happens. Because even if I were to overlook it being about us, he got into a fight with you. He could have really hurt you. I can't be friends with someone like that."
Naruto sighed. Sakura really cared for him, the ninja known as Naruto, but she cared for his welfare more. This care was central to their relationship, but it was also bigger than it. He couldn't change that even if he wanted to.
"Fine, Sakura-chan. Argh... It is so messed up that this keeps happening. When I saved the village from Pain, that was the first time that I really believed I could be Hokage, because everyone was supporting me. But first Kiba, and now Lee... How am I supposed to be the Hokage if everyone hates me?"
Sakura looked at him wide-eyed. She had been so preoccupied with how she felt that she had forgotten to think about how events might be affecting him.
"They'll get over it, Naruto... They have to understand that you didn't do anything wrong."
He didn't seem convinced.
"I hope so..."
She winced, cursing herself.
"Don't worry," She forced a smile. "I'm sure they will! I know no one could ever really hate you, Naruto. You're too incredible. You became friends with Kurama and saved everyone... You even saved Sasuke-kun when he didn't want to be saved... I truly believe that you're the only one who could have done those things. You're my hero. You know that, right?"
He smiled weakly back at her.
"Yeah... You told me."
Elated that he didn't forget, Sakura's smile changed to take on its signature warmth.
"Oh, Naruto! You remembered..."
Naruto found it almost blinding to look at. This was one of those times when seeing how wonderful she was had the side effect of reminding him how easily he could have lost her. He had gotten lucky that things had worked out like this. He didn't know what he would have done if they hadn't.
The pinkette noticed his blue eyes narrowing painfully.
"Naruto," she said. It would have been hard to quantify exactly how much meaning was embedded in those three syllables, but it was a lot.
She silently ran her fingers through his hair as she was accustomed to doing. When she felt some of his tension dissipate, she turned back to her book with a content expression. She knew that he knew he could talk to her about anything, so she decided to wait until he was ready.
While Naruto had known how painful it was to love her while believing she would never love him back, being with her was in a way more frightening. Because back then, he had wondered how he was going to deal with the pain of having to live without her; now he simply knew that he couldn't.
She was such a great girl. No, she was completely irreplaceable in his life. No one else could be what she was to him. She meant everything. He wanted to tell her that, wanted to tell her something at least, but no words were coming out. The distance between them was only a few inches, but it felt like miles.
"Sakura..." he finally said in a low voice.
The pinkette turned to look at him. Her eyes widened upon seeing his facial expression.
"Naruto, what's the matter with you? Please," she prompted urgently.
"I'd like to..." He gulped, a bit of awkward humor returning to him. "Well, you know... Do you, um, feel like doing that?"
She tilted her head at him for a moment before replying.
"Naruto... You're saying you want to make love?"
He blushed.
"Er... is that okay? You don't have to."
The pinkette silently gazed back at him with a neutral expression. He would have given anything to know what she was thinking. This was one time when he didn't know if he could handle being rejected. He hoped that she wouldn't ask him why. He would feel pathetic explaining that he just wanted to have her close to him because he needed reassurance, because he needed her to be here.
But Sakura was so much smarter than him. She probably figured that out without him having to tell her. His cheeks were getting really hot.
After what felt like an eternity to the blonde, she replied.
"Of course it is," She finally smiled. "It's a chance to show you how I feel about you, and I always want to do that. But there's one condition."
... Don't ever stop calling me Sakura-chan.
Naruto's eyes widened.
"What is it, Sakura-chan?"
She grabbed his arm and squeezed, shaking a little.
"You have to promise that you'll cheer up!"
He smiled weakly again.
"Okay... I promise."
Sakura smiled back. She knew he never broke a promise. Naruto moved to sit up, but she gently rested a hand on his chest.
"Stay like that for me, Naruto. It can be like it was the first time."
Naruto only nodded. She reached over and put her book on top of the dresser before standing up off the bed.
The pinkette began to pull down the zippers on her vest and shorts, humming quietly as she did. Naruto was observing her with a tentative expression. After she had finished, she turned to look at him. The white of her undergarments could be glimpsed through where the outer layer had parted.
Her smile disappeared. She knew he was probably worried about seeming too eager now. It hurt to think that he was scared that she'd think he only pursued this out of an interest in her body. Because whenever she saw how he really felt about her, she felt like she would never be worthy of it. But she knew that his feelings were similar. He didn't think he deserved special treatment from anyone. She wanted him to see that he was wrong.
"Naruto, I promise everything's okay. You and me... We're comfortable around each other, and we trust each other... And we're alone. So we can do what we want here," Sakura said quietly. She leaned downward and put a hand to his cheek. "I know how much you care about me... It really is fine, Naruto."
Something seemed to occur to him.
"Well, it's just..."
She suddenly let go of him and stood up straight, still disheveled, her knees against the side of the mattress. Alarmed, he sat up as well and this time she didn't stop him.
He saw her move her hand to press four fingers against her bare collarbone.
"My body belongs to me, Naruto. It's my choice what I do with it. You don't have any right to tell me whether something is wrong or not. Neither does Lee or anyone else. Only I can decide that. And I really felt like... No, I knew I wanted you to be able to have this. So it really hurts to think that you might have felt like you didn't even deserve it."
"It's just that I wouldn't have asked you to do that. I would never have pressured you. Even if you wanted to wait until we were married, I'd still have loved you just the same."
"I know you would have. You're too sweet to do anything else. But that wasn't what I wanted, Naruto. I don't need to guarantee a commitment from you because I'm already committed. It's already too late for me. No matter what happens, you'll still be the most important person in my life. That's just how it is," She reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, causing it to loosen. "I couldn't change it even if I wanted to."
She grasped his hand and pulled it up and under the white garment so that it covered her left breast. He could feel her heart beating steadily.
"Don't think that I'm weird for this... It's just that you are so important to me, Naruto. I think I could live ten more lifetimes after this one and I'd never meet anyone that I care for as deeply as I care for you. I just want to be there for you any way I can. So please don't worry about this anymore. It hurts me... Because, I just really want us to be... I want... I... Damn it," she continued, looking very frustrated. She tugged his hand away from her modest bosom and brought it to her mouth. Her eyes closed and she kissed the center of his palm, pressing it into her lips.
A little moisture had welled up in the corners of her eyes and she shut them more tightly. "Love you..." she finally muttered, almost inaudibly.
For Naruto, this was exactly what was so beautiful about her. He wanted to see thousands - no, millions - more moments like this one. The day that her passion didn't take his breath away would be the day that he stopped breathing entirely.
"Sakura-chan, I'm sorry."
He actually wasn't. That emotion from her meant everything to him. But he didn't want her to misunderstand. This was never something that he would try to manufacture. Her happiness was the important thing.
She looked up at him over his raised hand and smiled in a way that meant 'I don't want you to worry about it' before releasing him and shrugging her shoulders to lose her vest. Naruto then reached up with both hands to help her remove her white brassiere as she watched him with the same pleasant expression. As he had been longing to see her without the garment, he quickly assisted her in slipping the straps down her arms until he was met by two attractively taut nipples and their muted pink areolae. Alongside her delicate shoulders and subtly muscled arms, it was a sight he always found breathtaking.
Sakura blushed lightly upon seeing his dreamy gaze hadn't left her upper body. She had always felt wanting in comparison to Ino. The desire to cover herself was fighting with a different urge, one which ended up winning. So absent any conscious intent, she pulled back her shoulders so that her bare chest would be a bit more pronounced. She looked down at it and blushed more deeply. A few seconds elapsed.
She looked back up at him and smiled nervously.
"Am I right in thinking that you like getting to see me, Naruto?" she asked, quite coyly despite her cheeks having grown even redder.
But if she hadn't been so embarrassed, she would have been grinning from ear to ear. When she had wondered about what it would be like for the two of them to be intimate, she hadn't envisioned that he would be interested in her modest bosom. She could scarcely believe that something so simple could make her feel this giddy.
Before Naruto could answer the mostly rhetorical question, a gust of cool air drifted into the room.
"Aaah...!" Sakura let out a low yelp which caught Naruto's attention despite sounding rather cute, and he looked up at her. "Geez, it's colder than usual tonight..." she lamented, her arms crossed reflexively over her chest.
The blonde's protective instinct kicked in and he quickly took hold of the bedsheet, wrapping it snugly around her. She beamed at him.
"Thanks, Naruto..." She rested one slender hand on his torso, feeling that he was warm to the touch. "How come you don't get cold?"
Naruto gave her a calm, thoughtful look.
"I don't know..." There was an awkward silence. "... Maybe it's because of Kurama?"
"Hmm," The atmosphere felt completely different. "Yeah, that could be..."
They silently stared at each other for a while until the blonde decided to extend both arms and pull Sakura down on top of him so that she was resting flush against him. The bedsheet unfurled over the two of them as they fell back onto the bed. The surprised pinkette let out a loud moan of pleasure as heat transferred from his upper body to hers. For his part, Naruto flinched a little at the drop in temperature.
"Ooh... This feels so great," She moved her head a little to kiss him on the cheek. "You're just awesome, Naruto..."
Naruto only squeezed her reassuringly in response, after which she exhaled in obvious contentment. Their heads were close enough on the pillow that strands of yellow and pink hair were mingling. She idly ran a hand up and down the length of his right shoulder and arm. It finally occurred to Sakura that not much was happening.
"Er... Naruto?" she queried.
"Yeah?"
"What are we doing now?"
"I'm keeping you warm."
"I know you are..."
"Wanna stay like this for a while?"
"Sure..." She reached under the sheet and pulled her shorts off so that they would both be more comfortable. She kicked them to the side of the bed, leaving her in just her panties. "But, Naruto, we didn't have to stop just because I was cold. I would've been fine after we were both under the covers..."
"Nah, it's okay. We can do that another time."
"But didn't you really feel like... you know, 'being with' me?"
She put so much emphasis on the operative words that Naruto had to smile from a strange kind of amusement.
"I thought I did, but... I guess I just wanted to be reminded that you're mine."
Sakura snorted in amusement.
"Of course I am, you idiot. Have you been paying attention at all?" She laughed outright. "Haha... You're so silly."
"Well... I wouldn't want to miss out on this anyway. We'll have more chances to do that, but I rarely get to see you acting this cute, Sakura-chan."
"Quiet, you," she said, trying to sound stern. It was difficult for someone who was smiling so genuinely. She snuggled in closer to him, moving her left leg to the other side of his body and pulling her knee up to rest just above his waist. "You're so nice and warm... It's not fair... I can't even help myself."
Naruto noticed the new position of Sakura's leg. It felt very smooth where it was resting against his midsection.
It made him feel like a pervert sometimes, but he just enjoyed touching her. It usually wasn't sexual for him. He just thought she was beautiful from head to toe, he wanted to appreciate that beauty using more senses than just his sight, and he liked to show her that he could be respectful. So he reached under the covering and felt along her thigh with a hand. He applied a little pressure and enjoyed how different the firm muscle tissue felt from the softer outer layer of flesh. Her leg twitched a bit.
"Hee... I'm a little ticklish," the pinkette cautioned. She continued in an upbeat and pleasant tone, as he was such a softy when it came to her and she didn't want to discourage him. "But you can do that if you'd like, Naruto. Just be extra gentle, okay sweetheart? I don't like the feeling of being tickled."
The blonde nodded.
"I wouldn't want to do something that makes you uncomfortable."
Sakura smiled warmly. If something was important to her, even if it was a small thing, something silly, he still considered it a serious matter. She loved that about him.
"Don't worry, you did fine. Go on."
So he tried again, this time more slowly. In this way, the pinkette wouldn't feel the sensation of being suddenly poked. His two fingers lightly traced the course of her hamstring down to where it ended in the vulnerable spot at the back of the knee. Naruto knew that an injury there usually meant the end of someone's ninja career. Sakura had once told him that the knee could be rebuilt with medical ninjutsu, but not exactly the way it was before, and the patient usually walked with a limp. So she took pride in the evasion techniques Tsunade had taught her, because it was ideal to entirely avoid getting injured.
It showed, as her body was more or less pristine. The only indications that she had ever been in combat were a few faded scratches, such as the ones on her arm. To win a fight without even being touched was the ideal for a ninja, and especially for a kunoichi. He would never tell her, mostly because she would never agree with him and might even get angry, but he truly felt she was better at being a ninja than he could ever be. He had just been fortunate to have the advantages that he had. He was going to use them to protect her so that she would be safe no matter what, and he really didn't care how anyone else felt about it.
He idly massaged the top of her thigh, smiling a real smile which was wholly different from his grin. Sakura smiled genuinely back at him.
"So is my leg healthy?" she asked cheekily.
"Haha... Yeah," His laugh was full of nervous energy. "It's as perfect as the rest of you."
The pinkette frowned.
"I'm far from perfect, Naruto."
"Well... It's just that to me, you seem that way. You're beautiful, strong, and smart. All I've ever been was strong, and when we met I wasn't even that yet. I'm so lucky to be here with you... I think I didn't completely believe it before... And I think I finally realized that it's really true."
Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"That what's really true?"
Naruto looked down at the head of pink hair, its strands tickling the side of his neck.
"That I actually have you... You're really in love with me, really all mine... So I get to hold you like this, and in a bunch of other ways too... Sometimes you kiss me, and not for any particular reason, but just because you want to... And sometimes the two of us even have se-"
The pinkette cut in using a pseudo-stentorian tone.
"Hey! Don't get any big ideas, buster. You had your chance. I'll have you know that I've gotten comfortable here. You better not move a muscle."
It wasn't completely out of the question. But Naruto was feeling too joyous to want to change anything. He laughed happily, and Sakura grinned at him.
"Haha... It just makes me really happy. I love being with you. And when I think about how I'll be the one who gets to see it all... All the beautiful and wonderful things you'll do... I can't wait. I'm so excited to be alive."
She put a supportive hand on his shoulder.
"Naruto, I want you there with me when I'm doing those things. And I'm going to be there with you for everything that you do, too. But I'm not sure that you won't end up being disappointed with me," She sighed sadly. "I wish I could give you the world. I'd make you the Kage of the entire universe if I could, because you definitely deserve it... But I can't. I'm not royalty, or a goddess. I'm just a normal girl."
He shook his head.
"Even though it's important to me, I could live without any title to my name. But not without you. Never without you. You're not just a normal girl to me. You've never been just normal to me. I just got really lucky and somehow managed to do everything right to win your heart."
Sakura scoffed loudly.
"Pfft... Who says you did everything right? You did almost everything wrong. You've done more dumb things than I can count. You're just lucky that a normal girl like me couldn't help but fall in love with you."
The blonde's smile didn't falter at all.
"Yeah, I acted like such a fool... But I wanted to be with you more than anything, Sakura-chan. To me, you were the most amazing, beautiful person. I thought that the one who got to be with you would be happy forever, because they couldn't feel any other way with you," He looked up at the ceiling, his expression changing to one of serious contemplation. "And the amazing thing is, I was right. If anything, it's even more wonderful than I expected. So you're like my dream. I need to make sure you're always happy here. I don't wanna lose you."
"Well..." The pinkette yawned. "Just keep spending time with me. I love how you always make me feel special, even though I'm only a normal girl."
"Okay. I won't leave you, Sakura-chan."
"Good," She chuckled softly, happy weariness in her voice. "Hehe... I'll have to kick your ass if you do."
"Please don't. Sakura-chan, you know I'll be good. You won't need to," he said quickly and animatedly. He wasn't tired like she was, having napped for so long.
"Mm," Sakura murmured in assent. She couldn't match his energy anymore. It was almost a struggle to lift her head to softly kiss him goodnight, her tongue flitting into his mouth briefly. A few seconds passed and she let go, allowing her head to sink back into the pillow. "That was for you, Naruto."
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the comfort that only one person could give her. Her bed at her parents' home seemed so cold now.
Naruto blinked a few times.
"Why?"
Soft and rhythmic breathing was the only response she gave. The blonde sighed. Her kiss had been so warm and pleasant that he had almost cringed when she pulled away. Now he wished he could kiss her again, or even do what they originally intended. But this was fine. It felt good to just cuddle with her and take care of her. It had been more than enough to make him feel better. Besides, if she would kiss him like that from now on, he felt like he had a lot to look forward to. So he was happy just watching over her. As time passed, he thought at length about how the mostly naked 'normal' girl holding on to him was still quite capable of kicking his ass like she had when they were younger, but she had preferred treating him gently for quite some time now.
Eventually, her lithe form stirred next to his. One bare, pale arm tightened its grasp on him possessively. He noted the satiated expression worn by her proud facial features as she slept. In his mind, he could almost hear her voice offer a reply.
"Because I can."
/
Neither of them had noticed the moment when a black head of hair appeared and disappeared in the long, narrow window that was eight feet high and adjacent to the ceiling. As Lee started to quickly walk away from the building, he froze when he heard the sound of someone's voice.
"Lee-san," said a soft voice. The taijutsu user spun to see a morose-looking Hinata in her chunin vest and dark kunoichi garb. "Um... What was it that you were doing...?"
He stood ramrod-straight with his arms at his sides as he answered.
"Hinata-san... You are mistaken... It was only... I knocked, and no one answered... I wanted to see if anyone was... But they... I..." he stammered quickly.
"Well... That's only going to make you feel worse. Trust me, I know."
Lee's head tilted quizzically. The Hyuga heiress sighed.
"... Byakugan," Her eyes glowed for an instant. Lee's expression became one of understanding. Hinata smiled sadly at him. Then she glanced around nervously. "I have to go... Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
"But I..." The blue-haired girl frowned. "Never mind... Farewell, Hinata-san."
She nodded and left, heading towards the Hyuga estate. Lee walked off in the opposite direction, not really going anywhere in particular, and feeling sick again. That really had not been his intention, but if Hinata of all people didn't believe him, then no one would have. So he walked faster.
